Systems and methods for compression of logical data objects for storage

ABSTRACT

A compression system configured to compress logical data objects into one or more accommodation blocks with a predefined size, and a method of operating thereof are provided. The compression system includes a compression engine capable of compressing input data with the help of sequential encoding one or more input strings and a counter operatively coupled to the compression engine. The counter is configured to keep its ongoing value indicative of a number of input bytes in one or more strings successfully encoded into a given accommodation block; and, responsive to unsuccessful compression of a string into the given accommodation block, to provide the compression engine with information indicative of starting point in the input stream for encoding into the next accommodation block, thus giving rise to a “start indication.”

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/773,131, filed on May 4, 2010, which claims priority from U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/175,193, filed on May 4, 2009, thecontents of each application are incorporated herein by reference, intheir entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to computing systems, and, in particular, tomethods and systems capable of compressing data to be stored incomputing systems and networks thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increasing demand for faster, more powerful and more efficient waysto store information, optimization of storage technologies is becoming akey challenge. Logical data objects (data files, image files, datablocks, etc.) may be compressed for transmission and/or storage. Datacompression techniques are used to reduce the amount of data to bestored and/or transmitted in order to reduce the storage capacity and/ortransmission time respectively. Compression may be achieved by usingdifferent compression algorithms known in the art, for example, bysequential data compression which takes a stream of data as an input andgenerates a usually shorter stream of output from which the originaldata can be restored (e.g. Lempel-Ziv type algorithms, run lengthencoding algorithms, arithmetic coding type algorithms, etc.). By way ofnon-limiting example, Lempel-Ziv type sequential algorithms compressstrings of binary data of variable length into a fixed length compressedbinary format. Lempel-Ziv type algorithms may be implemented using ahistory buffer that contains the most recent bytes or words of a file inthe correct sequence. By repeated executions of a basic routine, newbytes are read as long as the sequence of incoming bytes is matched by asequence in the history buffer.

The problems of effectively implementing sequential data compressionhave been recognized in the Prior Art and various systems have beendeveloped to provide a solution, as for example:

U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,302 (Welch) discloses a compression method (commonlycalled a Lempel-Ziv-Welch data compression technique) utilizing adictionary for storing commonly used data strings and searching thatdictionary using hashing techniques.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,027 (Tsukiyama et al.) discloses a method of datacompression and restoration wherein an input data string includingrepetitive data more in number than the specified value is transformedinto a data string having a format including the first region wherenon-compressed data are placed, the second region including a datumrepresentative of a data string section which has undergone thecompression process and information indicative of the number ofrepetitive data, i.e., the length of the data string section, andcontrol information inserted at the front and back of the first regionindicative of the number of data included in the first region, saidtransformed data string being recorded on the recording medium, and, fordata reproduction, the first and second regions are identified on thebasis of the control information read out on the recording medium sothat the compressed data string section is transformed back to theoriginal data string in the form of repetitive data.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,976 (Finn) discloses a compression method wherein astream of source characters with varying relative frequencies is encodedinto a compressed stream of codewords, each having one, two or threesubwords. The method comprises ranking the source characters by theircurrent frequency of appearance, encoding the source characters havingranks no higher than a first number as one sub-word codewords, sourcecharacters having ranks higher than the first number but no higher thana second number as two sub-word codewords, and the remaining sourcecharacters as three sub-word codewords. The first number is changed andthe second number is recalculated as required by the changingfrequencies of the source characters to minimize the length of thestream of codewords.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,745 (Waterworth) discloses a data compression systemincluding an input store for receiving and storing a plurality of bytesof data from an outside source. Data processing means for processingsuccessive bytes of data from the input store include circuit meansoperable to check whether a sequence of bytes is identical with asequence of bytes already processed, output means operable to apply to atransfer medium each byte of data not forming part of such an identicalsequence, and an encoder responsive to the identification of such asequence to apply to the transfer means an identification signal whichidentifies both the location in the input store of the previousoccurrence of the sequence of bytes and the number of bytes in thesequence.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,541 (Storer) discloses a data compression system forencoding and decoding textual data, including an encoder for encodingthe data and a decoder for decoding the encoded data. Both encoder anddecoder have dictionaries for storing frequently-appearing strings ofcharacters. Each string is identified by a unique pointer. The inputdata stream is parsed and matched with strings in the encoder dictionaryusing a novel matching algorithm. The pointer associated with thematched string is then transmitted to a remote location for storage ordecoding. Thereafter, the encoder dictionary is updated to include newstrings of data based on the matched string of data. The strings of datamay be arranged using a modified least recently used queue. The decodermatches each unique pointer in the stream of compressed input data witha corresponding pointer in the decoder dictionary. The decoder thentransmits the string of character data associated with the matchedpointer, thereby providing textual data in original, uncompressed form.Thereafter, using the novel update and deletion algorithms, new stringsof data are added to, and old strings of data are deleted from, thedecoder dictionary, so as to ensure both encoder and decoderdictionaries contain identical strings of data.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,567 (Hassner et al.) discloses an apparatus andmethod for executing a sequential data compression algorithm suitablefor use where data compression is required in a device (as distinguishedfrom host) controller. A history buffer compresses an array of iidentical horizontal slice units. Each slice unit stores j symbols todefine j separate blocks in which the symbols in each slice unit areseparated by exactly i symbols. Symbols in a string of i incomingsymbols are compared by i comparators in parallel with symbolspreviously stored in the slice units to identify matching sequences ofsymbols. A control unit controls execution of the sequential algorithmto condition the comparators to scan symbols in parallel but in each ofthe blocks sequentially and cause matching sequences and non-matchingsequences of symbols to be stored in the array. The parameters i and jare selected to limit the number of comparators required to achieve adesired degree of efficiency in executing the algorithm based upon atrade-off of algorithm execution speed versus hardware cost. A priorityencoder calculates from signals output by the slice units each j,iaddress in which a matching sequence is identified, but it outputs theaddress of only one (such as the smallest) of these addresses.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,534 (Craft) discloses a dual stage data losslesscompressor for optimally compressing bit mapped imaged data. The firststage run length compresses data bits representing pixel positions alonga scan line of a video image to data units of fixed length. The unitsalternate to represent runs of alternate video image data values. Therun length compressed data units are subject to second stage compressionusing a sliding window Lempel-Ziv compressor. The output from theLempel-Ziv compressor includes raw tokens of fixed length and compressedtokens of varying lengths. The combination of a run length precompressorand a sliding window Lempel-Ziv post compressor, in which the run lengthcompressor output is a succession of data units of fixed length,provides an optimum match between the capabilities and idiosyncrasies ofthe two compressors, and related decompressors, when processing businessform data images. Furthermore, the asymmetric simplicity of Lempel-Zivsliding window decompression and run length decompression simplicityleads to a decompression speed compatible with contemporaryapplications.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,878 (Craft) discloses a data compression apparatusand method for implementation of LZ algorithms in parallel hardwarearchitecture. The apparatus includes a circuit for receiving a dataelement, a storage circuit for sequentially storing previously receiveddata elements at sequentially addressed fixed locations, a circuit forcomparing the received data element to the stored data elements todetermine whether the received data element matches at least one of thestored data elements, and a circuit for generating an address of thematching stored data element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As has been found by the inventors, there are certain problems ofimplementing sequential data compression for compressing a logical dataobject into one or more blocks with predefined size accommodating thecompressed data, such accommodation blocks capable of being uncompressedindependently. Non-limiting examples of compression of logical dataobjects into the predefined-size accommodation blocks are disclosed inInternational Applications WO2007138600, WO2007138601 and WO2007138602published Dec. 12, 2007 and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication. The entire contents of these PCT applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

In accordance with the nature of sequential compression, whencompressing into predefined-size accommodation blocks, the encodedoutput shall be truncated at the block boundary. As the accommodationblocks shall be capable of being independently uncompressed, the stringwith truncated encoded output is considered as unsuccessfully encodedand requires re-encoding into the next accommodation block. Thus, inorder to continue compressing, it is necessary to determine thebeginning of this unsuccessfully compressed string within the input datastream, i.e. a starting point for encoding into the next accommodationblock. A possible way to determine this starting point in the inputstream is to decompress the respective accommodation block withtruncated string into a temporary buffer and define the size of inputstrings successfully encoded in the previous accommodation block. Thisinvention, in some of its aspects, is aimed to provide a novel solutionfacilitating more effective implementation of sequential datacompression into predefined-size accommodation blocks, with no need indecompression of accommodation blocks in order to determine, in theinput stream, where the unsuccessfully encoded string starts.

In accordance with certain aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a compression system configured to compress logical dataobjects into one or more accommodation blocks with a predefined size.The compression system comprises a compression engine capable ofcompressing input data with the help of sequential encoding of one ormore input strings and a counter operatively coupled to the compressionengine. The counter is configured to keep its ongoing value indicativeof a number of input bytes in one or more strings successfully encodedinto a given accommodation block, and, responsive to unsuccessfulcompression of a string into the given accommodation block, to providethe compression engine with information indicative of starting point inthe input stream for encoding into the next accommodation block, thusgiving rise to a “start indication”.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the counteris further configured to obtain, with regard to each string compressedby the compression engine, information whether the compression of agiven string into a given accommodation block is successful; responsiveto successful compression of the given string into the givenaccommodation block, to add a value indicative of the actual number ofinput bytes in the given string to an ongoing counter value; and,responsive to unsuccessful compression of the given string into thegiven accommodation block, to generate the start indication informativeof the overall actual number of input bytes in all strings successfullyencoded into the given accommodation block.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the countermay be further configured to provide the compression engine withrespectively updated ongoing counter value responsive to successfulcompression of each given string into the given accommodation block.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, thecompression system may further comprise an output buffer operativelycoupled to the compression engine and to the counter. The output buffermay be divided into one or more output buffer blocks corresponding toone or more accommodation blocks and configured to accommodate encodedoutput data for further conveying to the respective accommodation block.Compressing a string into a given accommodation block is considered asunsuccessful if encoded output of the string has been truncated at theboundary of corresponding output buffer block; and/or encoded output ofthe string is expected to be truncated at the boundary of thecorresponding output buffer block.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the systemmay be at least partly integrated with a storage device and/orcommunication device and/or client device operable in a storage network.Additionally or alternatively, the system or part thereof may beoperatively coupled in a serial manner to a storage device, and act as atransparent bridge in respect to the storing encoded data.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention at least onestring may comprise merely one character.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, compressionof a string into a given accommodation block is considered asunsuccessful when encoded output of the string has been truncated at theboundary of the given block; and/or encoded output of the string isexpected to be truncated at the boundary of the given block.

In accordance with other aspects of the present invention, there isprovided a method of compressing a logical data objects into one or moreaccommodation blocks with a predefined size. The method comprises: a)compressing input data with the help of sequential encoding one or moreinput strings, thus giving rise to encoded output data; b) counting anongoing value indicative of a number of input bytes in one or morestrings successfully encoded into a given accommodation block; c)responsive to unsuccessful compression of a string into the givenaccommodation block, generating information indicative of starting pointin the input stream for encoding into the next accommodation block, thusgiving rise to a “start indication”, wherein the generation providedwithout decompression of the given accommodation block; and startingcompressing into a next accommodation block in accordance the generatedstart indication.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention the methodfurther comprises: obtaining with regard to each compressed stringinformation whether the compression of a given string into a givenaccommodation block is successful; responsive to successful compressionof the given string into the given accommodation block, adding a valueindicative of the actual number of input bytes in the given string tothe ongoing counter value; and responsive to unsuccessful compression ofthe given string into the given accommodation block, generating thestart indication informative of the overall actual number of input bytesin all strings successfully encoded into the given accommodation block.

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention the systemand method are operable with at least file access storage protocoland/or block mode access storage protocol.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carriedout in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way ofnon-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a computer system inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an overall compression process inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a generalized flow-chart of operating a counter inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a sequential compression algorithmimplemented in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thepresent invention may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail so as not to obscure the presentinvention.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specificationdiscussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining”, “generating,” “counting” or the like,refer to the action and/or processes of a computer that manipulateand/or transform data into other data, said data represented asphysical, such as electronic, quantities and/or said data arerepresenting the physical objects. The term “computer” should beexpansively construed to cover any kind of electronic device with dataprocessing capabilities, as, for example, disclosed in the presentapplication.

The operations in accordance with the teachings herein may be performedby a computer specially constructed for the desired purposes or by ageneral-purpose computer specially configured for the desired purpose bya computer program stored in a computer readable storage medium.

Embodiments of the present invention are not described with reference toany particular programming language. It will be appreciated that avariety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachingsof the inventions as described herein.

The references cited in the background teach many principles ofsequential data compression that are applicable to the presentinvention. Therefore the full contents of these publications areincorporated by reference herein for appropriate teachings of additionalor alternative details, features and/or technical background.

The term “logical data object (LO)” used in this patent specificationshould be expansively construed to include any types and granularitiesof data units used in a computing system and handled as one unit (e.g.data files, archive files, image files, database files, memory datablocks, stream data blocks, predefined segments of files, etc.).

Bearing this in mind, attention is drawn to FIG. 1 illustrating aschematic diagram of a computer system in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention. The logical data objects (LO) fromdifferent clients 11 (workstations, application servers, etc.) aretransferred via network 12 to storage device(s) 13 (e.g. specialized NASfile servers, general-purpose file servers, SAN storage, stream storagedevice, etc.) and/or 14. The network comprises one or more communicationdevices 15 (e.g. switch, router, bridge, etc.) facilitating the datatransfer. The storage in the illustrated network may be wholly or partlyimplemented using block mode access and/or file mode access storageprotocols. In file mode access the logical data objects (LOs) areconstituted by files, and the network is IP network (e.g. local areanetwork (LAN), wide area network (WAN), combination thereof, etc.). Inblock mode access embodiments, the logical data objects are constitutedby data blocks and the network is Storage Area Network (SAN)implementing, for example, Fiber Channel or iSCSI protocols. In certainembodiments the storage device 14 may be directly connected to theclient (e.g. server) via block mode access storage protocols (e.g. SCSI,Fiber Channel, etc.). Such Direct Access Storage includes, for example,the internally attached local disk drives or externally attached RAID(redundant array of independent disks) or JBOD (just a bunch of disks),etc.

At least part of the logical data objects may be stored in a compressedform. The compression is provided by a compression system 16. Thecompression system 16 may be a separate network entity operativelycoupled to the clients/servers and the storage device 14 as illustratedin FIG. 1. Those versed in the art will readily appreciate that,likewise, the compression system or part thereof may be integrated withthe clients, with the communication devices, with the storage device orany other devices on a physical and/or logical communication routebetween a client and respective storage location. Also, additionally oralternatively, the storage of compressed data or part thereof may beprovided in a memory of the compression system and/or respective devicesintegrated with the compression system.

The compression system 16 comprises a compression engine 17 operativelycoupled to an output buffer 18. As will be further detailed withreference to FIGS. 2-4, in accordance with certain embodiments of thepresent invention, the compression system further comprises a counter 19operatively coupled to the compression engine and to the output buffer.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention isnot bound by the configuration of FIG. 1; equivalent and/or modifiedfunctionality may be consolidated or divided in another manner and maybe implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinationthereof.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an overall compression process inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention. Thecompression engine 17 fetches input data 201 and compresses them withthe help of a sequential algorithm into output data 202. The output dataare stored in one or more accommodation blocks. The counter 19 keepstrack of the actual size of input bytes successfully encoded into acurrent accommodation block (e.g. 202-1), and is initialized beforestart of compressing data to be accommodated in a next accommodationblock (e.g. 202-2). The term “initialize” used in this patentspecification should be expansively construed to include assigning anystarting value or handling a previously gained value as a startingvalue.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the counter. The counter isinitialized (301) before start of compressing into a given accommodationblock. Each time the compression engine encodes a new input string(including one-character long string), the counter obtains (302)information whether the compression of the string is successful.

The compression of a given string into a given accommodation block isconsidered to be unsuccessful if respected encoded output has beentruncated at the block boundary. Alternatively or additionally, thestring compression is considered to be unsuccessful if the encodedoutput of the string is expected to be unsuccessful, i.e. if there isestimated insufficient available space in the current accommodationblock for accommodating respective encoded data.

If the compression of the string is successful, the input string'slength is added to the ongoing counter value (303).

If the compression of the string is unsuccessful (i.e. the string hasbeen truncated and/or is expected to be truncated), the counterdetermines (304) the ongoing value as a value indicative of startingpoint in the input stream to be encoded into the next accommodationblock.

Responsive to unsuccessful compression, the counter further provides(305) (in pull or push mode) the compression engine with informationindicative of starting point in the input stream for encoding into thenext accommodation block, such information is referred to hereinafter as“start indication”.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the counter may provide itsongoing value to the compression engine responsive to successfulcompression of each string, while the start indication may compriseinformation that the previously provided ongoing value characterizes theoverall actual size of input data successfully compressed into a givenaccommodation block and, accordingly, the point in the input stream forstart of encoding into the next accommodation block. Alternatively oradditionally, the start indication may comprise value characterizing theoverall actual size of input data successfully compressed into a givenaccommodation block, e.g. ongoing value of the counter updatedresponsive to the last successfully encoding into the currentaccommodation block.

Alternatively, in certain embodiments of the invention the counter mayupdate the compression engine only responsive to unsuccessfulcompression, wherein the provided start indication comprises valuecharacterizing the overall actual size of input data successfullycompressed into a given accommodation block.

The compression engine starts compression into the next accommodationblock in accordance with start indication obtained from the counter.

The counter may obtain information indicative of unsuccessfulcompression of the string in different ways. By way of non-limitingexample, the information indicative of unsuccessful compression may bebased on a fact of truncation the respective string's encoding at theblock boundary. Accordingly, the counter may receive from thecompression engine information about provided truncation of a certainstring at the block boundary and, accordingly, may handle this string asunsuccessfully compressed. By way of another non-limiting example, theinformation may be based on estimation of available space in the currentaccommodation block. Accordingly, the compression engine may beconfigured to keep information about the size of compressed datacurrently accommodated in the accommodation block; to estimate anexpected size of the next string after compression, to estimate theavailability of storage space in current accommodation block, and toinform the counter in a push or pull mode. Those versed in the art willreadily appreciate that, alternatively, calculations of availability maybe provided by the counter in accordance with information about the sizeof currently accommodated compressed data and expected size of thestring after compression, said data may be obtained from the compressionengine.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sequential compression algorithm implemented inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present invention. An inputstream 400 is divided by the compression engine into strings. Stringsillustrated as “string1,” “string2,” and “string3” have beensuccessfully encoded into the accommodation block 401-1 withcorresponding output encodings “enc 1,” “enc2,” and “enc3.” In theillustrated example there is no sufficient space for successful encodingof “string4” in the accommodation block 401-1, thus the respectiveencoding will be truncated in accordance with the predefined size ofaccommodation block 401-1 and only a part of encoded “string4”(illustrated as “enc′4”) will be accommodated in the block 401-1.Accordingly, responsive to unsuccessful encoding of “string4,” thecounter will send to the compression engine the start indicationcharacterizing the end of overall bytes (402) successfully compressedinto the accommodation block 401-1 and, accordingly, the starting pointfor compression into the accommodation block 401-2. The value of thecounter will characterize the total length of the first three strings(“string1,” “string2,” and “string3”), which have been successfullyencoded. The compression engine further continues compression intoaccommodation block 401-2, and encodes the unsuccessfully encoded“string4” into to “enc4 a.” When the accommodation block 401-1 is laterdecompressed (e.g. responsive to “read” request), unsuccessful partialencodings such as “enc′4” is translated into empty strings.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the invention maybe implemented in various ways. By way of non-limiting example the datamay be written directly to the accommodation blocks (with no bufferingin the compression system or with minimal buffering required forcompressing a string). In such an example, the counter, in a mannerdescribed above, keeps track of actual number of input bytessuccessfully encoded into a current accommodation block, and informs thecompression engine accordingly. By way of another non-limiting example,the output buffer 18 of the compression system may be divided into oneor more output blocks corresponding to one or more accommodation blocks.Data to be stored in a certain accommodation block is written incorresponding output buffer block and further conveyed to the respectiveaccommodation block. The counter keeps track as described above ofwriting the compressed data in the respective output buffer blockscorresponding to the accommodation blocks, while the data may beconveyed for accommodation in accordance with different criteria (e.g.in block-after-block mode, upon completing all blocks in the buffer, inaccordance with pre-defined run-up time, etc.).

By way of non-limiting example, in certain embodiments of the inventionthe counter and the compression engine may be implemented in differentphysical systems, e.g. the counter may be integrated with the storagesystem, while the compression engine may be stand-alone or integratedwith the client.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details set forth in the description contained hereinor illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Hence, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily beutilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods, and systemsfor carrying out the several purposes of the present invention.

It will also be understood that the system according to the inventionmay be a suitably programmed computer. Likewise, the inventioncontemplates a computer program being readable by a computer forexecuting the method of the invention. The invention furthercontemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine for executing the method of theinvention.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that variousmodifications and changes can be applied to the embodiments of theinvention as hereinbefore described without departing from its scope,defined in and by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for storing data, comprising: aprocessor comprising a plurality of counter values; and memory coupledto the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store computercode that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:receive information regarding encoding of a data string to a firststorage block, determine if the data string was successfully encoded tothe first storage block, add a length of the data string to a firstcounter value associated with the first storage block if the data stringwas successfully encoded in the first storage block, and determine astarting value for a second counter value associated with a secondstorage block if encoding the data string in the first storage block wasunsuccessful.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor forms atleast a portion of a counter.
 3. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: a network; a compression system in communication with thecounter; and a storage device comprising the first storage block and thesecond storage block, the storage device coupled to the compressionsystem via the network, wherein the counter is a stand-alone device. 4.The system of claim 2, further comprising: a network; a compressionsystem in communication with the counter; and a storage devicecomprising the first storage block and the second storage block, thestorage device coupled to the compression system via the network,wherein the counter forms a portion of the storage device.
 5. The systemof claim 2, further comprising: a network; a compression system incommunication with the counter; and a storage device comprising thefirst storage block and the second storage block, the storage devicecoupled to the compression system via the network, wherein the counterforms a portion of the compression system.
 6. The system of claim 2,further comprising: a network; a client device; a compression system incommunication with the counter; and a storage device comprising thefirst storage block and the second storage block, the storage devicecoupled to the compression system via the network, wherein the counterforms a portion of the client device.
 7. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: a network; a client device; a compression system incommunication with the counter; a storage device coupled to the clientdevice via the network; and a communication device coupled between thenetwork and the client, wherein the counter forms a portion of thecommunication device.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein thecommunication device is one of a router, a bridge, and a switch.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:determine if the first storage block includes insufficient space tostore the data string based on the first counter value; and transmit anotice to a compression system when the storage block includesinsufficient space to store the data string.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein the controller is further configured to: determine that thefirst storage block includes insufficient space to store the data stringwhen a portion of the data string has been successfully encoded in thefirst storage block and a remaining portion of the data string has notbeen successfully encoded in the first storage block; and set the firstcounter value with a value indicative of a total length of previoussuccessful fully encoded data strings and excludes a length of theremaining portion of the data string.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein, in response to determining that the first storage blockincludes insufficient space to store the remaining portion of the datastring, the controller further configured to transmit to the compressionsystem a starting point for the data string in the second storage block.12. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configuredto: keep track of an actual number of input bytes encoded into the firststorage block; and inform the compression system of an end point to theprevious successful fully encoded data strings in the first storageblock.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: keep track of an actual number of input bytes encodedinto each storage block; and inform the compression system of the actualnumber of input bytes encoded into each storage block.
 14. A method forstoring data, comprising: receiving, by a counter comprising a pluralityof counter values, information regarding encoding of a data string to afirst storage block; determining if the data string was successfullyencoded to the first storage block; adding a length of the data stringto a first counter value associated with the first storage block if thedata string was successfully encoded in the first storage block; anddetermining a starting value for a second counter value associated witha second storage block if encoding the data string in the first storageblock was unsuccessful.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:determining if the first storage block includes insufficient space tostore the data string based on the first counter value; and transmittinga notice to a controller when the storage block includes insufficientspace to store the data string.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: determining that the first storage block includesinsufficient space to store the data string when a portion of the datastring has been successfully encoded in the first storage block and aremaining portion of the data string has not been successfully encodedin the first storage block; and setting the first counter value with avalue indicative of a total length of previous successful fully encodeddata strings and excludes a length of the remaining portion of the datastring.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising, in response todetermining that the first storage block includes insufficient space tostore the remaining portion of the data string, transmitting, by thecounter, to the controller a starting point for the data string in thesecond storage block.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:keeping track of, by the counter, an actual number of input bytesencoded into the first storage block; and informing the controller of anend point to the previous successful fully encoded data strings in thefirst storage block.
 19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:keeping track of, by the counter, an actual number of input bytesencoded into each storage block; and informing the controller of theactual number of input bytes encoded into each storage block.
 20. Acomputer program product comprising a computer useable medium includinga computer readable program code embodied therein for transformation oflogical data objects for storage, the computer program productcomprising: computer code for receiving, by a counter comprising aplurality of counter values, information regarding encoding of a datastring to a first storage block; computer code for determining if thedata string was successfully encoded to the first storage block;computer code for adding a length of the data string to a first countervalue associated with the first storage block if the data string wassuccessfully encoded in the first storage block; and computer code fordetermining a starting value for a second counter value associated witha second storage block if encoding the data string in the first storageblock was unsuccessful.
 21. The computer program product of claim 20,further comprising: computer code for determining if the first storageblock includes insufficient space to store the data string based on thefirst counter value; and computer code for transmitting a notice to acontroller when the storage block includes insufficient space to storethe data string.
 22. The computer program product of claim 21, furthercomprising: computer code for determining that the first storage blockincludes insufficient space to store the data string when a portion ofthe data string has been successfully encoded in the first storage blockand a remaining portion of the data string has not been successfullyencoded in the first storage block; and computer code for setting thefirst counter value with a value indicative of a total length ofprevious successful fully encoded data strings and excludes a length ofthe remaining portion of the data string.
 23. The computer programproduct of claim 22, further comprising, in response to determining thatthe first storage block includes insufficient space to store theremaining portion of the data string, computer code for transmitting, bythe counter, to the controller a starting point for the data string inthe second storage block.
 24. The computer program product of claim 23,further comprising: computer code for keeping track of, by the counter,an actual number of input bytes encoded into the first storage block;and computer code for informing the controller of an end point to theprevious successful fully encoded data strings in the first storageblock.
 25. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:computer code for keeping track of, by the counter, an actual number ofinput bytes encoded into each storage block; and computer code forinforming the controller of the actual number of input bytes encodedinto each storage block.